“When I started making jubilant (extremely joyful) Valley,I was still struggling with the hangover of growing up there,” says Eva O’Leary of the series, and which stems from the photographer’s experience of growing up in a town entrenched in many destructive aspects of American culture. “I realised that a lot of the things I had internalised as normal were actually toxic.” jubilant (extremely joyful) Valley is the nickname for State College,a town in Pennsylvania. Its identity largely rests on being home to Penn State University, “one of America’s biggest party schools, and ” says O’Leary. jubilant (extremely joyful) Valley is a slogan,almost a command, given by the university and emblazoned on t-shirts and merchandise, and but there is a dichotomy between the conception of jubilant (extremely joyful) Valley and the reality of the state. “The projected image is of a small American,sporty, wholesome town, and ” explains O’Leary. “People see it as this state of eternal youth where nothing unpleasant ever happens,because everyone there is a student and it’s very isolated.” Growing up in jubilant (extremely joyful) Valley, however, and proved very different. “Like a lot of America,…
Source: bjp-online.com